Müllenkamp
Müllenkamp is both, an ancient religion that split off from the Kiltian, or Kildean, religion, that was based in Leá Monde, and a revival of the religion mixed with political activism that Parliament, eager to stamp out this threat to its authority, has categorized as a cult.Rosencrantz: However, Leá Monde has strong ties to the Dark, for this is the Dark city of the ancient Kildean priestess Müllenkamp. Vagrant Story, Square, 2000, Playstation One Vagrant Story part 9(of 21) Rosencrantz Video 8:24 The city suffered a catastrophe when the population was killed in an earthquake.Narrator:At its height, Leá Monde was a thriving community more than 5,000 people strong. Twenty-five years ago, a great earthquake brought that chapter in Leá Monde's history to a close. Vagrant Story, Square, 2000, Playstation OneCorpses raised with the magic flowing through the city, make of it a powerful stronghold for the modern-day Müllenkamp, but one as doomed as the long-lost Müllenkamp city was in the face of the Iocan exterminators. Kiltia The Temple of Kiltia is at the center of the city; whether any part of the city of the Müllenkamp religion other than the Temple of Kiltia and some rune-covered walls still exist, or whether Iocus' followers razed it all, the Great Cathedral is same ground Mullenkamp's followers worshipped on. Leá Monde was first the center of a new religion, one that split off from the Kiltian Light of Ivalice's Age of Magic that had brought hope to the people.Kiltia is mentioned as a sect in Vagrant Story. In Final Fantasy XII there is a religion called the Light of Kiltia The new religion, with its rites of music and dance, gave a more Bacchanalian spirit to the religion of hope and light.YT Video 8:13 "To wit, there is no power without the Dark". Iocus The priest Iocus later led yet another religious movement, but this one was not a movement in a different direction than or an alternative to the old, but against the old, with no alternatives given. The followers of Iocus crushed every last trace of Müllenkamp and Kiltian magic beneath their feet, and buried the Leá Monde of old beneath their towering Cathedral. But the city was still filled with the magic deemed evil and heretical by the heritage of Iocus. The deeds done there by the Iocus religion had tainted it with the dark spirit of death and vengeance, but it lay dormant. What followed was what the present age of Ivalice knows as the golden years of Leá Monde, the history of Müllenkamp having been supressed. In truth it was a thriving community, whose occupants gave no thought to what had occurred beneath their feet, until an earthquake struck the town 25 years before the present age, destroying the city and leaving the ground unstable.2000, Vagrant Story Ultimania PSX Game Guide Book, publisher: Studio BentStuff & DigiCube, language=Japanese, isbn=4-925075-75-6 The Neo-Iocans What the residents of Leá Monde also did not know was that the leaders of the state religion that followed Iocus had learned of Kildean and Müllenkamp's magical powers and wanted them for themselves. The power of the city was clear to those with the Sight to see it, but what was less clear was their vision of how to access it. Whether Iocus had warped the Müllenkamp and Kildean magic in the city with his massacres of their followers, or entropy had decayed it, or Müllenkamp had awakened something truly evil in their search for all things, or, what seems most likely of all, there was evil within the hearts of those who sought the city's power, it was decided that the way to reap the greatest power from the city was to sow it with the souls of the dead.Vagrant Story part 9(of 21) Rosencrantz Video 7:53 "You know that Leá Monde is a Wellspring..." 8:13 "To wit, there is no power without the Dark". 8:23 "Thus Parliament raised a paling around the cities of man and set the Dark out to pasture." 8:40 "All that was needed is fodder, and They would come to feed." Ashley: "Fodder? No!" Rosencrantz: "Yes. The great quake 25 years past stocked the city's larders with corpses." The Crimson Blades are the knightly order of the Iocus priesthood, and Romeo Guildenstern their Commander in Leá Monde.Guildenstern: Grissom, gather our remaining men. Join with Tieger's knights, and crush Müllenkamp. Go! / Grissom: By your command. Vagrant Story, Square, 2000, Playstation One Rood Inverse The Blood Sin is named as a badge of pride by Iocans. The Iocans used the Rood Inverse as a means of debasing and demeaning their captives. Before their bloody, sinful deeds, the symbol itself and even its uncorrupted power seems to have had its roots, as does the magic corrupted into The Dark, in the Kiltean religion :Guildenstern: "The Blood-Sin, you say? It has a familiar ring... Years past, during the Inquisition of the heretics, the "Rood Inverse" was carved on them, an abjuration of the flesh... Those who bore this tattoo called it the Blood-Sin." The pattern is repeated in the ornamental sword of Iocus mounted at the top of the Great Cathedral and the Holy Win. Sydney Losstarot Sydney Losstarot: Slight and graceful of build and features, the enigmatic wielder of the power of Leá Monde. Leader also of another, earthly power, the revolutionary political force he leads and religious revival he has inspired, all in the name of the ancient religion that Iocus once exterminated, called after its hundred years dead high priestess Müllenkamp. Müllenkamp present day Müllenkamp's resistance to the Iocans genocide is undocumented; it seems unlikely, although possible, that they were entirely pacifist. Its modern form is only nonviolent in that it has not, until the battles in the Greylands and Lea Monde, engaged in open warfare. It is the sword of revenge, then, for the massacres of the past, while fully committing to using the powers of the Dark that are empowered by them, for the future. Its enemies would have it a political movement to ignore its connection to the people they would rule; it is not merely a revolutionary political force but a moral and spiritual one, a religious revival and a redemption of human values that the Church had stomped out. Much is made by those with a stake in power, control and the status quo, of very little wrong that revolutionaries do, even fictitious ones, and even this fictitious group is no exception. It is said that Sydney betrays Hardin and the Müllenkamp, hiding his true plans from them, yet Hardin's own thoughts reveal that Hardin is understandably upset about the bloodshed and possibility of losing it all for nothing. He knows full well that Sydney plans to take the power of the Blood Sin from the Church and Parliament and even their ally the Duke. :Hardin: "The key-bearer, the Duke, will soon die. If he dies without a successor, all is lost. The duke thinks he can cut off the cursed Müllenkamp bloodline, but that must not be allowed to happen. We will assume the legacy." Not only that, but the source of the "betrayal" lines all come from Guildenstern. :Guildenstern: "Good God! Sydney held the key all along! The tattoo on his back, it is the Blood-Sin! He has the key! He has played you false!" But then, Guildenstern is as unreliable a source as one is likely to find. :Guildenstern reveals his intentions in acquiring the Dark's powers. Guildenstern: ...the nobility! They do nothing and blame others for their failure; they steal men's dreams and twist them to nightmares...We must cleanse this corruption. There must be strong, unwavering justice. And there must be fear to enforce that justice." Inasmuch as John Hardin and the other Müllenkamp are unaware of Sydney's plans, they are tragic victims of Sydney, but as the means necessary to end the curse of Leá Monde they are the very heroes fighting against Iocan and Parliamentary oppression and corruption that they believe themselves to be. There can be little doubt that John Hardin knows their chances, either. He was a soldier and has an eye for what makes things work in an army. There is no doubt whatever that the developers styled Mullenkamp troops as peasants. They have no armor, they aren't good looking or talented. They are the weak of the world, trodden underfoot by the strong instead of nurtured by them, and Mullenkamp has given them something to be proud of and work for. If it grinds the last out of them, at least it will not do it to enrich the oppressor. But enthusiasm will only take them so far. Greylands Incident Now internal political rivalries between the Priesthood of St. Iocus represented by its militant arm, the Order of the Crimson Blades under Cardinal Batistum, Parliament, represented by its own force, the Valendia Knights of the Peace (VKP) are further strained by the appearance of a terrorist cult, the Müllenkamp sect. Lead by the enigmatic and mysterious Sydney Losstarot, Müllenkamp is suspected of attempting to assassinate the king that Yuletide past. Müllenkamp is protected and funded by the Duke Aldous Byron Bardorba, who also secretly controls the strings of Parliament, though his actions all stem from an unknown reason. When the Müllenkamp cult attacks the Duke's home, they take the Duke's family hostage and make several demands. The Duke himself was not at his home during the attack. In a meeting at 0:24 A.M., VKP leader Steward LeSait sends in Riskbreaker, Ashley Riot to investigate this bizarre event. Callo Merlose was sent ahead by the VKP to Duke Bardorba's manor to investigate the Duke's involvement with Müllenkamp and the Cardinal's interest in Sydney Losstarot,VKP Officer: Our Inquisitors have found that Müllenkamp's coin comes from the captive duke himself. Vagrant Story, Square, 2000, Playstation Oneand has been watching the events in the Duke's Mansion from outside. Ashley meets her at 1:28 A.M. Upon seeing an assault by the Crimson Blades, one which was not cleared by the VKP, Ashley decides that the attack is a perfect distraction for him to infiltrate the manor. At 2:32 A.M., the Crimson Blades have yet to find the Müllenkamp leader, Sydney. While they try to put out the flames that threaten the manor, Ashley Riot attempts to sneak past a group of Müllenkamp cultists. However, he is revealed by a falling block of wood, and is forced to kill both of them to move on. Ashley infiltrates the manor; after overhearing a conversation between Sydney and his second-in-command, the doubtful John Hardin, Ashley moves to capture the enemy leader. Pointing a bowgun at a lone Sydney, Riot threatens to fire if he does not cooperate. Instead of following commands, Sydney moves for his sword. Firing straight into Sydney's heart, Ashley believes to have killed his foe. Hardin distracts Ashley by running into the room with a young boy in his arms. Ashley witnesses the vaunted powers of Sydney first hand:Ashley: What's going on? You were most certainly dead! Leave the back-from-the-grave stuff to faerie tales... Vagrant Story, Square, 2000, Playstation One while he is looking away, a still-living Sydney knocks Ashley to the ground, pulls the crossbow bolt out of his chest, taunts Ashley, and summons a bloodied wyvern away from its battle with the Crimson Blades;Duke Bardorba: The fool Sydney used his wyvern. We can't have witnesses telling the world, can we? Vagrant Story, Square, 2000, Playstation One it comes crashing through the stained-glass ceiling, studded with the crossbow bolts of its enemies. The Müllenkamp members escape while the Riot puts the beast to death. Sydney escapes with his accomplice Hardin and the Duke's son Joshua, leaving Ashley with a clue to his whereabouts.Sydney: I...I'm the one you want. Hardin...go quickly...go...to Leá Monde. Vagrant Story, Square, 2000, Playstation One After the creature is slain, Ashley looks out onto a sunrise over the Greylands. This event was dubbed the "Graylands Incident" by the VKP. At 5:38 A.M, Duke Bardorba hears of the events in his secondary residence in the Graylands. Upon this, he orders his men to burn down his home while pretending to be Blades to hide evidence of Sydney's magical powers. In this act, he is killing his family, to the shock of the Duke's courtiers. Bardorba also sends out a man of his employ dressed in red armor to Leá Monde to defeat all the forces that are gathering there. However, despite the Duke's coldness, he shows warmth to his captured son, Joshua Corrinne Bardorba, the boy whom Müllenkamp had captured during their attack. Ashley and Callo make it to the only remaining entrance of the ruined city of Leá Monde at 11:42 A.M. After an earthquake, all overland routes to the town were blocked off, and the whirlpools make entering by sea also impossible. Now the once-flourishing town is completely abandoned by all except Müllenkamp, who use it as their base. The only way in is the old Wine Cellar. Once again leaving his companion behind, Ashley moves into Leá Monde alone. But as he walks in, Sydney appears behind a defenseless Callo Merlose. Ashley, not knowing his partner is in danger, continues forward on his mission while further earthquakes make the passage unstable. After traveling through the Catacombs and fighting a horde of people brought back from the dead by The Dark filling Leá Monde, Ashley finally reaches sunlight again in the Town Center. Eavesdropping on the Blades' activities, it is clear that they have taken the entire top of the town, and are now simply wiping out what pockets of resistance remain, though all to heavy casualties. Hardin, using a power of clairvoyance,Hardin: As I can scrye on distant locales, so the talent of the heart-seers has flowered in you. Vagrant Story, Square, 2000, Playstation One is able to spot the actions of the Crimson Blades, and sees that they are growing weaker. Yet the battle is clearly lost for Müllenkamp, and he wishes to flee. The last Müllenkamp stronghold is the Great Cathedral Sydney and Guildenstern do battle with the Dark as their weapon. During the fight, Guildenstern declares that his true aim is revolution. He wants to save Valendia, which he considers sick with corruption born from class struggle, by burning away everything but justice enforced by fear of his power. Sydney calls Guildenstern's vision "tyranny" and reveals that all his actions were to avoid such an awful fate for the world. Samantha then appears, which gives Sydney time to distract Guildenstern by attacking her. While she is hit, Sydney teleports Hardin, Callo, and Joshua to safety. But just as they escape, Guildenstern thrusts his sword into the back of the Müllenkamp leader. Guildenstern then moves forward to slice the Blood-Sin off Sydney's back. Gallery VSTempleCathedral.jpg|Whether any part of the city of the Müllenkamp religion other than the Temple of Kiltia still exist, or whether Iocus' followers razed it all, the Great Cathedral is same ground Mullenkamp's followers worshipped on Links See Also References